News

Thespian Club Shines in Performance of No Exit

12/06/2018

The officers of the Runnels Thespian Club performed Jean-Paul Sartre's existential masterpiece No Exit in the Gladys Hague Runnels Theatre on Nov. 29. Featured in the one-act play directed by senior Camille Doucet were sophomore Thespian club officers Sophie Edwards as the “Valet,” and seniors Alex Morgan as “Garcin,” Sophia Torres as “Inez,” and Kayla Evans as “Estelle.”

For the show, theatre program chair and drama and technical theatre teacher Neena McLain was the production advisor and supervised the lighting, junior Gracie Smith was in charge of sound, and the high school technical theatre classes worked on the set. Kayla Evans, who is secretary of the Thespian Club, said she picked No Exit for the performance because she loved reading it in 10th grade English. “We used this play to learn about existentialism through Sartre, and I loved the dark, comedic dynamic between the characters.

Each one comes with a unique and twisted backstory that is intriguing on its own, so the play lends itself to deep character development, which is very exciting to perform.” She added that the show is “one of the most challenging as far as directing and performing. The actors are given a lot of freedom, but the staging of every moment and pause has thematic significance. Our director had many discussions with us about our characters’ motives and the relationship dynamic between each of them.”

No Exit student director Camille Doucet, who has acted in several Runnels productions, said that working behind the scenes has its own set of challenges. “I personally find directing more stressful because you’re in charge of much more than when you are acting.”

Congratulations to the talented cast and crew for a striking rendition of this fascinating and provocative play.